Boxing: 'Canelo' Alvarez drops Austin Trout on way to decision

Boxers Saul "Canelo" Alvarez, left, lands a punch on Austin Trout, right, during the 12th round of a 154-pound title unification bout, Saturday, April 20, 2013, in San Antonio. Alvarez won by unanimous decision. (AP Photo/Eric Gay)

Alvarez dropped Trout in the seventh round with a textbook straight right hand. He landed that big right periodically throughout the fight, but never again with that same result. It was the first time Trout has been down in his professional career.

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Bill Knight

Most ringside observers had the fight scored much closer than the official judges, but the official judges owned the only scores that counted.

Alvarez improved his record to 42-0-1 and now owns three world championship belts at 154 pounds -- his own WBC junior middleweight belt, Trout's WBA junior middleweight belt and he also collected the Ring Magazine junior middleweight belt.

Trout suffered his first professional defeat, dropping to 26-1 in his career.

Actually, despite the judges' scorecards, it was a wonderful war ... a perfect contrast of styles. It was Trout, the boxer, against Alvarez, the bomber. Trout pursued, kept his right jab in Alvarez's grill throughout. Alvarez patiently awaited his chances to throw that big right hand.

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Trout easily won the first round (because Alvarez did nothing) and appeared to do enough to win the 12th and final round. Many of those middle rounds were razor-thin close ... rounds that could have gone into either fighter's corner.

The crowd was almost deafening in its love for Alvarez, roaring even when the Guadalajara favorite ripped and missed.

"I'll take my loss like a man," Trout said. "He was the better man tonight. But, I'll be better next time. He caught me with a good shot (on the knockdown). He shocked us with his game plan. I tried to press the action, change things, but he kept changing."

Alvarez said, "Austin was a very difficult fighter. But I was smart, and little by little I figured him out. I landed my right hand and my jab. My jab was perfect ... it was the key.

"San Antonio gave me great support," Alvarez added. "I heard them chanting and it was extra motivation for me. It was a difficult fight and I learned a lot from this fight."

The fight, quite simply, gradually slipped away from Trout as the war wore on. Still, most observers had this a very close fight, certainly much closer than 118-109.

But there was a clear feeling when this one went to the judges -- with the crowd deafening in this giant building --that there could be only one winner.

For Austin Trout, it is back to the drawing board, back to chasing championships.

For Alvarez?

"Of course, I want (Floyd) Mayweather."

Bill Knight may be reached at bknight@elpasotimes.com; 546-6171. Follow him on Twitter @BillKnightept